FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT JESSAMY - PAGE 2

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy questioned the "integrity and credibility" of the city's police commissioner Tuesday afternoon, calling for an independent investigation into whether Frederick H. Bealefeld III has solicited votes for her opponent in the Democratic primary while on duty. At a news conference in North Baltimore, Jessamy alleged that an interaction between one of her supporters and Bealefeld last month was an "overt action on the part of the police commissioner" to help elect "a rubber stamp of the police department.

Standing on stage before a crowd of cheering supporters, Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy declared her candidacy for re-election last night, promising to make decisions based on what's right - not popular opinion. "As state's attorney, I make tough decisions every day. I make them and I can live with them, because I have a moral compass," she told more than 100 supporters at Payne Memorial Outreach Center. "Justice matters to this state's attorney." Behind her stood a panel of local luminaries, including Stuart O. Simms, secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, and African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Vashti McKenzie, who compared Jessamy's hardships in office to those of Jesus.

By Justin Fenton and Julie Scharper, The Baltimore Sun | August 11, 2010

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III has taken down the campaign signs that prompted accusations of impropriety from State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, but he remained under scrutiny as some officials rallied behind the prosecutor. Bealefeld's yard signs for attorney Gregg Bernstein were taken down Monday, before Jessamy's Tuesday news conference in which she questioned the police commissioner's integrity and called for a probe of whether he was politicking while on the job. In an e-mail sent from his private account – as well as in brief remarks at an event touting the seizure of marijuana plants – Bealefeld said fighting crime was his priority.

A big sigh of relief emanated from the Baltimore Police Department's headquarters on East Fayette Street this week. After 15 years, to hear the cops tell it, their suffering has ended. State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy is out and Gregg Bernstein is in. Baltimore's electorate put an end to the relentless backbiting, feuding and name-calling between the top prosecutor and a succession of six police commissioners over whom to blame for botched cases and repeat offenders. Inept police or a timid state's attorney?

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy is saying her primary opponent would "set us back 60 years" if elected, a claim her critics contend is stoking fears about whether challenger Gregg Bernstein's anti-crime policies would target black residents. The Democratic contest pits Jessamy, an incumbent who fought for civil rights in the South, against a white lawyer promising to get tougher on crime. Jessamy has been promoting and defending her efforts to weave intervention and treatment into her office's traditional role of prosecuting criminals.

Mrs. Jessamy's at a vigil for a slain church worker. Mrs. Jessamy is "excited to thank citizens for their help and support in anti-crime efforts. " Look for Mrs. Jessamy on Fox 45 news talking about witness intimidation. The office of the city's top prosecutor launched a Facebook page this week, and she's everywhere — testifying in Annapolis (four photos), at a Victims' Fund Run (23 photos) and in the community with the police commissioner (15 photos). On the social networking site, she shed her full name, Patricia C. Jessamy, in favor of Mrs. Jessamy, and the goal is to promote her office and get out the news that the city's traditional media don't print or broadcast.

In a new "community newsletter" published by her office, Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy excoriates the mayor in a three-page commentary, claiming he has pushed "failed" reforms and starved her overburdened office of funding. She also accuses The Sun of inaccurate reporting and unfair editorials about her and her office. Jessamy says the newsletter is meant to educate city residents about what her office is doing, but some people wonder whether Jessamy, who intends to run for re-election next year, is improperly using public money for political purposes.